


The Masters

by yourmothersmeatloaf



Series: Pigs on the Wing [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25174957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourmothersmeatloaf/pseuds/yourmothersmeatloaf
Summary: Aang and Zuko seek firebending masters. This is pretty much just the episode The Masters from book three with some Zukaang inserted:)
Relationships: Aang/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Pigs on the Wing [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823776
Comments: 2
Kudos: 110





	The Masters

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender, also most of the dialogue and plot are not my own, either. It is just a different interpretation of what went down.:)

As they took off on Appa over the horizon, Aang sat cross legged tucked safely behind the bison's horns and Zuko laid back in the saddle, hands behind his head. They remained silent for most of the trip, Zuko's attempt at having a ‘more upbeat attitude’.  
Aang was frustrated with himself for it, but he remained apprehensive of Zuko and still the whole firebending of it all. He was supposed to restore peace, and learning firebending was part of that. It was his destiny and Zuko was his only option, and strangely in a way he couldn’t explain, the right option. He felt like he should be able to trust him. Shouldn’t he?  
After some more time of silence between the two boys, Aang turned to ask Zuko how he was feeling about everything. Open communication was the only chance they had at the point. Though upon turning he saw Zuko was fully asleep curled up in the saddle. For some reason, Aang couldn’t turn away. It was bizarre, he’d supposed. Just bizarre to see one of his biggest threats so comfortable to be that vulnerable. Bizarre to see his first personal nemesis could be so still, and only in sleep, apparently, be void of rage. He sighed to himself and turned back to the sky.  
Finally as they approached the landmass, Aang yelled enthusiastically.  
“Zuko! I think we’re close!”  
The teen startled awake and leaned over the saddle for a better look.  
“You’re right! There are the ruins!”  
As they got closer and the decrepit remains of this society became more visible, the boys found themselves awestruck. There was just so...much. The ruins spanned for miles. Brush and forest was retaking the land over in many parts, seemingly reclaiming from the outside, in. It was not at all what either of them had expected.  
“Whoa,” they remarked in unison.  
They began their trek in, Zuko trailing behind a few steps. Aang had a natural speed about him that must have come from his Air Nomad background. Or at least that was how Zuko consoled himself. They both craned their necks to look at the stony surroundings. It was weird because even though this place had been abandoned it still felt warm, as if the spirits of the people who once inhabited it never really left. Aang felt life bouncing around the walls of the corridor they were frequenting. Meanwhile Zuko was talking about how he saw the inspiration Fire Sage architects must’ve taken from the place. This made Aang laugh on the inside but it was another bizarre thing, hearing Zuko speak of anything aside from personal drama or the war. It was pleasant though.  
“Well, we’ve learned something about architecture!” Aang quipped enthusiastically, “Hopefully we’ll learn something about firebending too. The past can be a great teacher--”  
He was cut off as he tripped over something. He hardly had any time to react as he began falling face first into a large bed of deadly spikes. Off of instinct he blew a large gust of air in front of him and leveraged himself into a position where he could just make it onto the other side. The balls of his feet landed right on the edge of the shallow pit and he windmilled his arms until he found the momentum to jump forward. He looked back, heart racing, legs numb.  
“Zuko, I think the past is trying to kill me!”  
Zuko took a second to choke down his anxiety, hoping it hadn’t shown on the outside and knelt down to what Aang had tripped over. A string once pulled tightly. A trap. He pulled the now limp string up and examined it in fascination.  
“I can’t believe it. This booby trap must be centuries old, and it still works.”  
He looked up at Aang. Dread rushed over Aang. In retrospect he would wonder if he was actually anxious about the traps because spirits know he’d gone through much worse, or if he was really just anxious about not having an excuse to drop the idea of firebending.  
“There’s probably a lot more. Maybe this means we shouldn’t be here.”  
Zuko stared at him from across the pit. Then he took a few paces back and got a good running start. He got a good momentum going and leveraged himself up against the wall to avoid the pit, jumping down directly in front of Aang, who remained unflinching.  
Zuko’s dexterity didn’t surprise Aang, he’s seen it in person many times.  
“Where’s that upbeat attitude you were talking about,” Zuko smirked as he brushed the front of his clothes off. They both turned down the few yards of corridor left and stared up at what appeared to be an entire city, topped by a golden palace, adorning a large, large staircase up the whole front of it.  
“Besides,” Zuko continued, “people don’t make traps unless they’ve got something worth protecting.”  
Aang let out a small sigh and accepted his fate in this situation. They hunkered on forth. They stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up.  
“That’s got to be a million of them,” Zuko heaved.  
“Remember, Zuko, upbeat,” Aang smiled widely. Zuko rolled his eyes and they began on their million-step journey.  
Upon reaching the top of the stairs, which they took surprisingly silently, they were confronted with a large carving in a wall that must’ve been five times even Zuko’s height. The carving depicted a person engulfed in the flames of two dragons who held hands. The dragons looked rather angry and the person did not seem too pleased, either.  
”Look this seems promising,” Aang said. They stared a moment longer and the enthusiasm drained out of his voice a bit. “Though I’m not sure what this tells us about the original source of firebending.”  
Zuko leaned in closer to the carving, going so far as to squint at it.  
“They look pretty angry to me,” he said.  
“I thought the dragons were friends with the Sun Warriors.”  
“Well, they had a funny way of showing it.”  
Zuko stared at the carving for a moment longer then looked to the ground, unsure of what he felt. Anger? Shame? Disappointment? Defeat? He turned away from Aang and the carving and began to move forward once more. Aang stared after him, certainly not missing the array of emotions that washed over his counterparts face. He made no effort to move after Zuko.  
“Zuko, something happened to the dragons in the last one hundred years. Something you’re not telling me.”  
Zuko closed his eyes, as though that had caused him a great deal of pain.  
“My great-grandfather Sozin happened,” the words spat out of his mouth like poison. Aang looked regretful for a moment, it had clearly been a sore spot but it was something he needed to be aware of. Zuko walked again and this time Aang followed. They made their way across a gorgeous bridge as Zuko continued explaining.  
“He started the tradition of hunting dragons for glory. They were the ultimate firebenders and if you could conquer one, your firebending would become legendary and you’d earn the honorary title, Dragon.” Now they came to the foot of another staircase, beautiful ornate dragons carved into rock on either side. Zuko stroked his hand down the stone eye of one of the dragons. To Aang it almost looked by way of apology. “The last great dragon was conquered before I was born, by my uncle.”  
Aang’s eyes bored into the back of Zuko’s head. He held his staff closely as he felt this information betrayed his views. He twisted his hands around his staff anxiously as he geared up to speak about another sore spot.  
“But I thought your uncle was… I don’t know, good?” Zuko then turned to Aang, slightly indignant.  
“He had a complicated past,” he retorted shortly. “Family tradition, I guess. Let’s just move on.”  
He continued on, not checking to see whether or not Aang was following. Aang hung behind for a moment, processing what had been told to him before running to catch up.  
They found themselves in the middle of a courtyard, where a large doorway patched up the gap on the front of the building before them. Aang ran up to it and began tugging on the golden doors to no avail.  
“It’s locked up!” Aang looked at Zuko as if saying, ‘now what?’  
Zuko looked back at him then around the courtyard, running a hand through his hair. There had to be an answer. Directly behind him was a larger column with a large red glass orb in the centre of the top.  
“Wait,” he said, “It’s a celestial calendar, just like the fire sages’ have in their temples. I bet that sunstone opens the door, but only when sunlight hits it at just the right angle...on the solstice.” The orb was shining a red light onto the current date of the calendar that they’d walked over. At the top of the gate was a similar stone to the one in the column.  
Aang felt frustrated once again, they’d come this far. He threw his head back and exclaimed.  
“Monkey feathers! The solstice again. We can’t wait here that long!”  
“No, we can’t,” Zuko agreed, pulling his sword out, “But we might be able to speed time up. Let’s see if we can outsmart the sun stone.”  
He used the blade to reflect the light at the perfect angle. He and Aang watched the light reflect on the other orb in heavy anticipation.  
“Nothing’s happening,” Aang said.  
“Come on,” Zuko urged.  
Finally the ground rumbled, Zuko refusing to break position until the doors fully opened before them, which they did. Aang stared into the dark chamber, elated.  
“Zudo, I don’t care what everyone else says about you.” He nudged the firebender with his elbow. “You're pretty smart.”  
Zuko looked down at the other boy then smiled at the compliment as Aang ran into the room ahead. Then he realized what had actually just happened.  
In the room Aang discovered firstly a terrifying statue of what seemed to be a very angry Sun Warrior. He gasped and jumped back. Zuko approached him.  
“Relax, they’re just statues.”  
They looked up again. The room was dimly lit from one grate in the centre of the ceiling. Around the room forming a circle were many statues of what looked like Sun Warriors in various positions. They entered the circle, Zuko heading towards the centre and Aang stopping at the first statue that had scared him in the first place. He leaned down to read an inscription.  
“It says this is something called the Dancing Dragon,” Aang said.  
He put his staff down against the statue and looked up at it in all of its might. He assumed the position of the statue and was startled when the stone shifted beneath him. He looked down and gasped as he noticed a plate in the floor pushed in directly under his foot. He looked around again at the circle and noticed each half represented the same positions as the other. He ran up to Zuko at a very quick pace and wrapped himself around the other boy's arm. Zuko was startled and looked down at him. They had never been so physically close while not sparring or even simply fighting. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this development, or Aang’s apparent lack of boundaries.  
He’s just excited, Zuko scolded himself, but why?  
“Zuko!” Aang exclaimed, “Get over here. I want you to dance with me.”  
“What?” Zuko ripped his arm away. Aang grabbed his arm again anyways and pulled the startled teen with him.  
“Just do it!”  
Aang pulled Zuko back to the first two statues. Zuko on the left, Aang on the right. The statues dwarfed them.  
“Let’s follow the steps of the statues,” Aang said.  
Zuko complied surprisingly easily. They began in the first pose, and Zuko seemed a tad skeptical until he noticed that his foot sunk into the plate beneath him.  
“Don’t you see?” Aang asked when he noticed Zuko noticed. “These aren’t dance moves. These statues are giving us a lesson. I think this is some kind of Sun Warrior firebending form.”  
They continued down their respective halves of the circle with new determination.  
“This better teach up some really good firebending.”  
They reached the end of the line, just small, breathing versions of the men immortalized in front of them. Their fists in the air, mere inches from bumping each other. They looked behind them as they heard stone scraping stone. In the centre of the room a hole had opened up and a pedestal rose up, sporting what appeared to be a golden egg.  
“Hooray!” Aang cheered. “Wait...What exactly is that?” He rubbed the back of his neck.  
“Some kind of mystical gemstone,” Zuko answered.  
Zuko approached the gemstone in a run. Aang panicked. He couldn’t actually be serious. This had booby trap written all over it.  
“Well, don’t touch it!”  
“Why not?”  
“Remember what happened with those spikes,” Aang looked around skeptically. “I’m just very suspicious of giant, glowing gems sitting on pedestals.”  
Despite this warning, Zuko picks it up without a second thought and Aang immediately took back referring to him as smart a mere fifteen minutes earlier. Zuko closely examined the gem.  
“It feels almost alive,” he whispered, strangely reflecting Aang’s thoughts from the moment they stepped into the ruins. As Zuko went to place the gem back to where it belonged a strong jet of green ick blasted out of the pedestal seemingly consuming the teen whole. It shot him directly up against the grate that was in the ceiling and stuck him there. Then the doors behind Aang shut and closed him in. Panic once again ran through his body.  
“No, it’s another trap.” Though they both knew this already.  
Aang backed away from the approaching ick and ran to get his glider.  
“I can’t pull free!” Zuko yelled from his fixed position against the grate. “It’s like some kind of glue!”  
Aang ran to his staff and grabbed it, narrowly avoiding being consumed by the ick. He grunted as he bounced off a statue and hit Zuko with an intense gust of air in an attempt to free him. It didn’t free him at all, it simply just changed his direction so now his face was out towards the side of air. Aang looked around at the quickly rising sea of ick, but noticed too late as it had already eaten his staff. In a panic he jumped up to beside Zuko, gripping the bars in the grate, then was unable to rip himself off.  
“I can’t move!” He struggled. “Zuko, do something!”  
“Me? I can’t move either!”  
The ick quickly reached the roof of the room, pushing them closer to the grate. They groaned at the pressure. Then it stopped. Aang looked, well at least tried to look, at what was happening.  
“It stopped.”  
“At least we have air,” Zuko said. “Maybe if we stay calm we can figure a way out of this.”  
They stared at the sky, imploring it for answers.

-

Several hours had passed and night had fallen in a heavy sheet over them. The night was humid and moisture stuck to their skin, which was fantastic because they were also unable to wipe it off. At least they could say they’d watched a sunset together.  
“You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn’t you?” Aang quipped. This served to irritate Zuko even if it had been a mistake. Tensions started running high after the first fifteen minutes of being glued side by side in an inescapable, sticky ick. Aang couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so frustrated. The only thing he could think of were passing memories of Sokka and Toph.  
“At least I made something happen. If it were up to you, we’d never have made it past the courtyard.” They both glowered at each other.  
“HELP!” Aang screamed at the very top of his voice.  
“Who are you yelling to?” Zuko demanded. “Nobody’s lived here for centuries!”  
“Well, what do you think we should do?” Zuko actually seemed to consider the question.  
“Think about our place in the universe?” They stared out at the stars. All either of them could think at that moment was how their destiny was closing in on them quickly, but the ick just got to them quicker.  
Aang sighed. Then his ears pricked. Someone was there. Someone was actually there! A very intense, short and stout man approached them. He had a very angry aura about him. So, either they were about to be saved or about to be killed in very unfortunate circumstances. He leaned over the grate and his voice boomed.  
“Who is down there?” As he made himself more visible, Aang and Zuko noticed the face painting and the headdress. Both of their jaws dropped in astonishment. He was a Sun Warrior.

-

After a long process of removing them from the ick, they were led into a new courtyard deep in the heart of the ruins. Aang and Zuko sat side by side being licked clean by animals and they were surrounded by Sun Warriors of all different appearances. They all wielded fire. This fire seemed different from normal fire, somehow. Warmer. Brighter.  
The man stood over them, his frame broad and intimidating.  
“For trying to take our sun stone, you must be severely punished.”  
“We didn’t come here to take your sun stone,” Zuko explained again, straining to keep the irritation out of his voice. “We came here to find the ancient origin of all firebending.”  
There was a moment of silent consideration. The other Warriors seemingly looked to this man for guidance on reactions.  
“Yeah, right,” A new man chimed in beside their leader, he was clutching the sun stone closely to his body. This man’s sarcasm stunned Zuko. “They are obviously thieves, here to steal Sun Warrior treasures.” This infuriated Zuko, how many times did he have to explain this to them? Were they not listening on purpose? Aang could sense the distress coming off the teen and worked quickly to insert himself before Zuko got them both killed.  
“Please,” Aang said in his most diplomatic voice. “I don’t normally play this card, but I’m the Avatar.”  
The expression on the faces of the two men did not change, though they did look at each other. The skinnier one seemed to be looking for guidance from the leader, then they looked back at Aang.  
“Just hear us out.” He asked with sad eyes.  
“My name is Zuko, crown prince of the Fire Nation,” Zuko stood. “Or at least, I used to be. I know my people have distorted the ways of firebending to be fueled by anger and rage, but now I want to learn the true way, the original way. When we came here I never imagined the Sun Warrior civilization was secretly alive. I am truly humbled to be in your presence.”  
Zuko bowed to them, and Aang looked on unaware and honestly, awestruck that Zuko had that level of respect in him. Or that he could speak so long without getting awkward. It was a side to him that he’d never seen, but really appreciated. He hoped to see that side of the teen more often now that he knew it existed. Then he snapped out of it and also bowed to the Sun Warriors.  
“Please, teach us,” Zuko asked softly.  
The leader now looked severe, but there was a shift in his eyes. He believed them, even if it was only halfway.  
“If you want to learn the ways of the sun, you must learn them from the masters Ran and Shao.”  
Zuko continued to stare at the ground but Aang had questions.  
“Ran and Shao? There are two of them?”  
Zuko looked up as the leader got in Aang’s face, absolutely towering over the boy.  
“When you present yourselves to them, they will examine you,” the leader explained. He looked at Zuko, “They’ll read your hearts, your souls, and your ancestry.” He got into Zuko’s face on the last one and he grimaced. “If they deem you worthy, they’ll teach you. If they don’t you will be destroyed on the spot.” Was that a risk he was willing to take? He caught Aang looking at him out of his peripheral and turned to meet his gaze. They shared a concerned look, and in that moment he realized it was his destiny to risk anything to restore the balance. There was no longer a question.  
The boys were shooed off by the Sun Warriors, urged to get a good nights sleep in the event the masters don’t destroy them should occur. This was a comforting thought, Zuko remarked to himself. They watched as the Sun Warriors disappeared single file further into the ruins, cradling flames ahead of them for ease of vision. Then they looked to each other, and decided they knew what they were talking about and looked around for a place to set up camp. Only there was no camp to set up, unless they walked back to Appa. Quickly they came to realize this was the only option and gave each other pained looks.  
“We have to go all the way back, don’t we?” Aang asked.  
“Yes, unfortunately I don’t see another choice.”  
Aang slumped his head down as they began their long trek back to Appa. Zuko kept peeking at the younger boy and wanted to nag him to stop moping but decided his comments were probably best left to himself for the time being.  
After about ten minutes of this Aang stopped dead in his tracks. Zuko immediately took a defensive stance, ears pricked, listening for what Aang had seemingly heard. When there was nothing he looked back at the Avatar.  
“What?” Zuko all but snapped. Aang’s face broke out in a large smile as he pulled a small piece of material shaped like a small Appa out of his clothes. “What is that?”  
“A bison whistle!” He blew as hard as his airbending lungs could into it, mostly out of excitement.  
“Nothing happened,” Zuko rolled his eyes and immediately regretted it as he saw Appa in the not so far distance. The bison landed as close as he could to them, looking irritable. Aang easily sprang the maybe fifteen foot distance between them and hugged the top of Appa’s head.  
“Sorry, boy, did I wake you?”  
The bison huffed at the young Avatar and just curled back up, sensing they weren’t about to go anywhere. Aang used his airbending to jump in the air and float slowly down to lay on Appa’s tail. He laid with his hands behind his head, one leg bent at the knee with the opposite ankle resting on top. He smiled at the sky, the bison’s scent reminded him of home. Zuko caught up and without saying a word, climbed up Appa from his tail and let himself slump face first into the saddle. He laid on his stomach for a minute before he heard Aang’s voice from down below, what Aang was actually saying, though, was a mystery.  
“Aang,” Zuko grumped, “If you want to talk to me you’re gonna have to come here.”  
Aang was balancing on the edge of the saddle within a second. The older of the two moved his head just enough to peek at him through his good eye before resuming his face down position. It always blew Zuko’s mind how efficient and frankly, graceful Aang was. It made him feel like he was clambering through life with unskillful pointlessness by comparison.  
Not anymore, though, he reminded himself.  
“What’s going on, Aang?”  
“Are you afraid?” He asked. Zuko was shocked by this, never really considering Aang ever felt any kind of fear, apprehension maybe, but not fear. He didn’t know how to respond.  
“Uh, well, I guess so?”  
Aang noticed the walls that were in place and realized this conversation may be futile.  
“It’s just...if what he said was true, and they really can judge us on all those deeply personal things? That’s really bad, isn’t it? Aren’t the chances higher of us being killed than us being taught anything?”  
Zuko sighed and rolled onto his side, leaning on his elbow and resting his head on his hand. He took a moment to examine Aang.  
“Listen, you’re worrying about something we can’t change. You have to want this. That should be enough. To care. You know?” Aang looked down at his words, so Zuko continued, “Besides, how many life threatening situations have we been in before? Even just with each other? This is just another adventure we can tell everyone about when it's over.”  
Aang gave a small smile, “Okay.”  
“Can we please go to bed now? We have a long day of maybe being killed tomorrow.”  
Zuko said it with no smile on his face but humor in his voice. Aang smacked him lightly on his shoulder and nodded. He slunk into the saddle and laid on the opposite side of Zuko.  
“Great,” Zuko said. Aang rolled over facing the opposite way as Zuko and supported his head with his arms. Zuko laid there, facing Aang, so proud of how far they’ve come in such a short amount of time. He was sure the younger boy had been taking every precaution when it came to him, of course. His heart felt so open and free when he was around him. It was as though just being within Aang’s general vicinity made him a better person. He felt, dare he say, good when he was around Aang. He felt very privileged to be allowed into their circle and mission.  
They were going to do great things together. All of them.  
He finally laid back on his stomach and closed his eyes.  
Aang felt the gaze turn off of him, let a small smile fade across his face, and also drifted off.  
-

As instructed, at daybreak they met back with the Sun Warriors in the courtyard. It was a long and tired trek as they thought it most respectful to keep Appa out of sight. Neither had slept particularly well due to low vibrational anxiety about what they were to face today, though neither would admit it upon waking. They were men. Brave men.  
Low and behold, upon arriving in the courtyard they had to climb another large set of stairs to the top of a lovely building holding only what appeared to be a large fireplace.  
A small price to pay to beat the Fire Lord, Aang reminded himself. Upbeat attitude. He had to want this.  
They faced the leader and he began explaining the reason for the stairs and the fire. The other Sun Warriors surrounded them all in a semicircle, observing.  
“If you’re going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the eternal flame.” He turned to the fire, looking like a child compared to its size. “This fire is the very first one. It was given to man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years.”  
“I don’t believe it,” Zuko looked on in awe.  
“You will each take a piece of it to the masters to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending.”  
This worried Aang, even if the masters were a short distance away, which was unlikely, he doubted he could keep a fire going for that long. He was inexperienced.  
“Uh, yeah,” Aang rubbed his neck, looking sheepishly to the ground, “Mister Sun Chief, sir? Yeah, I’m not a firebender yet. Couldn’t my friend here carry my fire for me?”  
“No.”  
Well, that was blunt. Their leader turned back toward the fire and Aang took that moment to let the dread carry over him. He took a strip of fire from the bulk of the mass and balled it up in front of him, then split it in two.  
“This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy. You must each maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small. Make it too big, and you might lose control.”  
He handed the fire to Zuko and Aang respectively. Zuko looked to Aang as he faltered to take his. What was he doing? They may not even make it to be killed by the masters, these guys may just do it right now.  
“I’m sorry,” Aang said. “I’m just a little nervous.”  
At last he took the flame and all the fear fell off his face. The little flame held such energy, it wasn’t scary at all.  
“It’s like a little heartbeat,” he remarked.  
The leader looked at Aang, “Fire is life, not just destruction.” Aang smiled. “You will take your flames up there.” He pointed to a very distant mass of earth. “The cave of the masters is beneath that rock.”  
That wiped the smile off Aang’s face.  
The journey was long, and Aang’s anxiety grew and shrunk much like the flame in his hands. He kept comparing it to Zuko’s and every time he did this he felt his heart sink at the size of his flame. He kept asking himself how Zuko was so much better at him than this, until finally he said it aloud.  
“Listen, Aang,” Zuko sighed. “I was born a firebender and I have practiced every day. Imagine if instead of learning all the elements you have, where you would be with this skill. Besides, if I was as great as you seem to think, we wouldn’t be here having this conversation right now.”  
Even though the words seemed to cause Zuko physical pain, Aang appreciated the humility. He was noticing change in the young prince. He hoped it wouldn’t go back to how it was when they were at the Air Temple.  
They spent much of their journey in silence, the sun slinking further down in the sky. Finally, Zuko was far enough in front of Aang to stop and turn around.  
“Hurry up.”  
“I can’t. If I walk too fast, my flame’ll go out.” Aang looked very concerned.  
“It’s gonna go out because it’s too small. You’re too timid. Give it more juice.”  
“But what if I can’t control it?”  
“You can do it. I know you can. You’re a talented kid.”  
Aang smiled at him, thrilled that Zuko has decided to go with the positive reinforcement method this time. He hurried to catch up as much as he could. They were approaching the foot of the mountain. After climbing through the rubbles at the foot of the mountain they were confronted with another courtyard. All of the Sun Warriors were waiting for them there. Behind the leader was the most elegant staircase and walkway they’d seen since their arrival. The walkway created a T on top of the stairs and connected to two sides of the mountain, with a cave on either side. The sun hung above the walkway perfectly. The two boys looked up, awestruck once more before meeting the gaze of the leader.  
The leader approached with two men close in stride.  
“Facing the judgement of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for you.” He addressed Zuko directly, “Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragon’s disappearance. The masters might not be so happy to see you.”  
“I know I wouldn’t be.” The same man from earlier chimed in.  
Zuko looked away, ashamed and hurt. He reminded himself of his destiny. Help the Avatar to bring down his father and restore balance to the world- at any cost.  
“But once they find out I”m the Avatar--...”  
“Have you forgotten that you vanished, allowing the Fire Nation to wreak havoc on the world? The decline of the dragons is your burden too.”  
That stung Aang and he recognized subconsciously what Zuko had been going through this whole trip. It was a sore spot.  
The leader hit the ground with his staff and took a piece from each boy’s fire. The two men behind him took the pieces and shared it with the other warriors. It was a sight to behold, the ancient forms of firebending.  
They must be some masters, Zuko thought.  
As the leader approached the stairs with his back turned to the duo, Aang turned towards Zuko.  
“We could turn back now. We’ve already learned more about fire than we’d hoped,” he held up his flame with a faltering smile.  
“No, we’re seeing this through to the end. We’re gonna meet these masters and find out what’s so great about them.”  
“What if they judge us and attack us?”  
“We’re the Fire Prince and the Avatar. We could take these guys in a fight, whoever they are.”  
Zuko nudged his sword with a reassuring smile, which Aang couldn’t help but meet with his own. He really liked this side of Zuko, and decided to trust him. He gave him a solitary nod.  
“Bring ‘em out!” Zuko said.  
“Chanters!” The leader yelled. Then the drums began, it was intense. There was so much energy flying around them at that moment. There was the firebending, the chanting, the drums and the worshipping. Though he’d never admit it, the dread began flooding in Zuko.  
They stood side by side at the base of the stairs, gave each other one last look, let out a breath, and began climbing. At the top of the stairs, they looked down both sides into each cave to be met with only darkness. Then a voice came from down below.  
“Those who wish to meet the masters Ran and Shao will now present their fire.”  
They turned to their respective sides and held out their flames in a bow.  
“Sound the call!” Someone blew into a large bugle, the noise bouncing off the walls of the mountain.  
The ground began trembling and the walls of the caves let loose of a lot of loose pieces. Aang was startled, he didn’t expect such an intense arrival. He dropped his arms to turn and look both at Zuko and the other cave to get a better idea.  
“What’s happening?”  
When he received no answer from Zuko he returned to his stance and held up his hands again only to realize his offering had disappeared. That was a new level of panic for Aang.  
“Zuko, my fire went out!”  
“What do you want me to do?”  
“Give me some of yours!”  
They began struggling as Aang attempted to take some of Zuko’s fire and was fended off.  
“No, just make your own!”  
“I can’t!”  
“Get some from one of those warriors. Hurry. Stop cheating off me!”  
“Quit being stingy!” They continued fighting over the flame when Aang hit Zuko’s arms and his flame went out, too. At this point Aang had Zuko in an embrace from behind as they both shared a very concerned look. The caves trembled more and the dread finally reached Zuko’s ears. They were doomed.  
Inside the cave, two glowing eyes. Before it could be fully processed, though, two dragons, one red and one blue, were flying out towards and around them. They wrapped themselves around the mountains and the walkway, flying with beautiful grace. The sun hit them and gleamed off their scales. Neither one of them could believe what they were seeing. For a moment they both forgot about their condemnation.  
“These are the masters,” Zuko whispered.  
“You still think we can take ‘em?” Aang asked meekly.  
“Shh!” Zuko hushed. “I never said that.”  
They stood back to back, admiring the masters who were restlessly flying around them when it dawned on Aang.  
“Zuko,” he nudged. “I think we’re supposed to do the dragon dance with them.”  
“What?” He looked back at Aang, “What about this situation makes you think they want us to dance?”  
“Well, I think they want us to do something. Let’s just try it.”  
“Fine.”  
So they did. As Aang did the dance, he noticed his movements syncing up with that of the dragon. It was beautiful. He felt complete unity in that moment. At the end of the dance, when their fists were all but touching in the final stance, they looked up and noticed one dragon mere feet away from their faces. They flew in place, their colossal wings shaking the structure around them. The blue dragon stared into Zuko’s soul while the red one stared into Aang’s. Neither had ever felt so intimidated and they had seen some things in their lifetimes. Without warning the dragons seemed to be done whatever it was they needed to do and slumped their backends onto the ground and held the walkway with their front legs. They opened their mouths and engulfed the boys in flame. They screamed as they believed this was the end. They had failed.  
Instead of a soul aching death of burning alive, they were met with warm comfort. Such as what you feel when coming in and changing into fresh clothes after getting caught in the rain, or a hug from your mother when the only thing that can fix the pain is her love. The fire turned colors that neither were sure any other humans could even think up. They were both entirely transfixed. It was as though the complete truth of the universe was laid out in front of them, waiting for them to just grasp it. It was so much. It was too much. There was no humanly way to describe what they’d seen. You would just have to know it to know it. Aang’s eyes had simply filled with tears.  
“I understand,” Zuko whispered to the colorful void.  
The fire died from around them and they watched in dazed admiration as the masters returned to their caves. Once they were gone all the commotion from below ceased as well. The boys reached the last flight of stairs, still entranced by the gift they had just experienced.  
“Their fire was beautiful,” Zuko remarked. “I saw so many colors. Colors I’ve never imagined.”  
“Like firebending harmony,” Aang added.  
“Yes,” the leader agreed. He was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. “They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending.”  
“I can’t believe there are still living dragons. My uncle Iroh said he faced the last dragon and killed it.”  
“So, your uncle lied.” Aang said simply. He felt relieved that his views weren’t betrayed after all.  
“Actually, it wasn’t a total lie,” the leader smiled. “Iroh was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him as well.”  
Zuko was amazed and struck with a deeper understanding of his uncle. It stung but he deserved every bit of that hurt.  
“He must’ve lied to protect them, so no one else would hunt them.”  
“All this time, I thought firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I’ve been too afraid and hesitant but now I know what it really is. It’s energy and life.” Aang smiled.  
“Yeah!” Zuko exclaimed. “It’s like the sun but inside of you. Do you guys realize this?”  
“Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors, so yeah.” The leader chuckled.  
“That’s why my firebending was so weak before because for so many years, hunting you was my drive.” He looked down at Aang. “It was my purpose. So when I joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire. But now I have a new drive. I have to help you defeat my father and restore balance to the world.”  
He turned from Aang and let out a stream of fire much more powerful than any other bending he had performed maybe in his life. Aang smiled and did the same. Except this time it wasn’t scary. He felt in control and he felt the light and life in it. They joined together again and turned to face the leader who approached them once more.  
“Now that you have learned the secrets and you know about our tribe’s existence, we have no choice but to imprison you here forever,” he sounded grave.  
Aang and Zuko looked shocked. There was no way he was serious.  
“Just kidding!” The leader chucked, “But seriously, don’t tell anyone!”  
The Sun Warriors gathered again and began walking off in a single file line, leaving Aang and Zuko to their devices. They looked at each other, shared a small smile and silently began heading back to Appa.  
It was dark before they spoke again.  
“Can you believe how lucky we are to have seen that?” Aang asked.  
“I honestly can’t believe it’s real.”  
They lapsed into silence again. It was comfortable. Neither could have ever guessed they’d be walking side by side on a cool night to get on Appa to go back to the gang together. To fight against a common enemy. It was bizarre but it was good.  
Aang smiled to himself, and when Zuko noticed, he smiled too.  
At last they reached the bison and climbed up into the saddle and off they went. They took turns sleeping as they’d just been through a spiritually exhausting experience. What neither would ever tell the other is that they’d both taken turns watching the other musing about the future. It was looking hopeful and that felt good.  
Zuko felt good when he was with Aang, and that was so scary it felt less good than it maybe should.  
-  
Upon returning to the Easter Air temple, Aang quickly located his friends and explained what had happened in a very fast, chatterbox-y manner. His friends struggled to keep up, but Zuko was shocked to see they understood. Heck, he was there and he couldn’t understand! Aang then demanded they did the dancing dragon for them. Zuko reluctantly agreed, mostly because he was so excited about it, partly because he wanted to prove he was helping them move along with their plan and not hindering them or wasting their time.  
“With this technique the dragons showed us, Zuko and I will be unstoppable,” Aang said.  
They finished the dance, fists touching this time. They breathed heavily as the dance took so much more out of them if they actually bended while doing it.  
His friends all sat in a line observing, and when they were done they applauded.  
“That’s a great dance you two learned there,” Sokka quipped.  
“It’s not a dance.” Zuko got defensive, “It’s a firebending form.”  
The rest of them stared at Zuko for a few seconds, silent with grins.  
“We’ll tap dance our way to victory over the Fire Lord,” Sokka joked.  
“It’s a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old,” Zuko said.  
“Oh, yeah?” Katara butted in. “What’s your little form called?”  
Zuko looked defeated at this point. It’s not like the creators were doing themselves any favors in the defense department.  
“The Dancing Dragon…” He sighed.  
As everyone, including Aang, laughed it out. While he kept his stoney exterior he melted on the inside and wanted to laugh with his friends, but he wasn’t sure if they were really friends yet. He wanted to be. He hoped they’d be.  
The gang slowly went off to their own sleeping areas, each giving Zuko an almost affectionate pat on the back as they passed. Well, all except Katara who gave him a look as cold as ice. When it was just him and Aang again, they shared a tired smile. Without sharing any words Aang gave him a loose hug that Zuko was too shocked to return at first, but eventually did with a pat on the back. Then Aang walked off to his sleeping space, too. Leaving Zuko alone with his thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a series, more to come!


End file.
